1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display system for displaying merchandise information provided to users in the course of internet shopping and the like, and more particularly, to a three-dimensional object display system, three-dimensional object display method and recording medium recording a three-dimensional object display program designed to display merchandise and other physical objects in three-dimensional space so as to facilitate user selection.
2. Description of Related Art
With the spread of network communications it has become common to buy and sell merchandise over the internet. The factors that lead purchasers to select merchandise from among a wide variety of types of articles is virtually unlimited, so a system that allows purchasers to make comparisons between articles with ease based on those selection factors is needed.
Additionally, recent advances in multimedia imaging have led to the introduction of methods for classifying data and displaying that data in three-dimensional space. However, when displaying three-dimensional objects on a two-dimensional display screen, difficulties arise with respect to manipulation and depth perception. To the user, a method for displaying spatial information in a way that is easy to use and easy to manipulate is needed.
Conventionally, transactions arising in the context of internet shopping and the like involves searching a product database according to desired purchase factors obtained from the purchaser, with a list of the resulting matches or “hits” displayed on a two-dimensional screen using alphanumeric or graphic image data. The purchaser then makes a comparison of the displayed product data and selects one or more desired items.
In the event that there are multiple purchase factors, then the search results differ depending on each such factor, so the purchaser must repeat the cycle of inputting desired purchase factors, viewing the hit product list and comparing the products so listed in order to arrive at the desired purchase.
At the same time, with advances in multimedia imaging a number of technologies for displaying a wide variety of objects in three-dimensional space have been suggested.
However, three-dimensional objects are difficult to visualize in two-dimensional space, and moreover it is difficult to manipulate such objects. For these reasons, a viable method for displaying three-dimensional information has yet to be realized. In particular, positioning a variety of products and merchandise in provisional three-dimensional space according to their attributes has not been carried out.
For example, in the case of internet shopping, the purchaser normally decides upon which items to purchase according to a variety of purchase criteria or factors (price, quality, volume and so forth). Ordinarily, items fitting the designated purchase criteria are displayed on a screen using alphanumeric or graphic data.
In the conventional art, the purchaser is required to input a number of purchase factors and view a list of displayed product “hits” before making a purchase, a process that needs to be repeated for each such purchase. Accordingly, when selecting an item to be purchased it is difficult for the purchaser to compare items on the basis of a plurality of factors for a single item displayed on a single screen.